I Won't Look, I Promise
by musicalpsychology
Summary: prompted. Max and Alec showering together without any sex and a pizza!


Everything had been going just fine. The mission went off without a hitch, all the way to the gate on the way out. The two transgenics had perfectly coordinated all of their moves in the dark, and were home free. It had only taken **one** miscalculation to land them both in the mud. A growl sounded in the night, followed by some cussing and a loud, very pronounced "OW!?"

"What the hell was that for?"

"Shh!"

Alec rubbed his arm, the mud caking his clothing making that a very uncomfortable feeling indeed. He screwed up his nose, green eyes flashing to Max's darker ones in the night. "Can we go home now?"

It only took a few moments for them to find their way out of the mud, onto Max's Ninja and well on their way back to her apartment. The wind whipping passed them only served to make the feeling worse; soon the mud was drying, held fast and stiffening their clothes. Curiously, it had also begun to smell. Max's first idea as the scent reached her keen senses was to get rid of it. She would have done so a lot quicker, too, if a certain green eyed, blond haired transgenic wasn't following her even as she kicked off her boots in her apartment. It was then that she stopped, turning her body and almost running straight into him.

"Alec...?"

"Mm?"

"Uh.. don't you have a shower back at your place?"

"Yes.."

"So.. why don't you go home and use it? You smell disgusting."

Alec frowned, tugging at her jacket. "So do you. Worse, in fact."

Then was Max's turn to frown; she pushed his arms away, glad to still have her gloves on. That mud was **everywhere**. Alec walked passed her, tracking more in. She rolled her eyes. "Alec.. I need to shower.. and stop doing that!"

"Stop doing what?" He smirked, eyes ablaze with a playful fire. "I need to shower too, Maxie. C'mon.. we're soldiers. What does it matter if we save a little water?"

Max made a face, apparently disgusted. "No thanks, perve."

"Max.. I won't look, I promise." The sincerity in his eyes must have been what got her **out** of the mess. No more mud, as she stripped down in the bathroom. She refused to go any further than her underwear, though. Alec did the same, and soon they were both standing under the spray. Unlike usually, Max did not close her eyes. The heat of the water did not suffice enough to make her let her guard down when she had an alpha male standing right behind her in less clothes than she had on.

"Max..?"

She rolled her eyes, the **silence** of showering ruined. Trust Alec to speak to her right then. "What?"

"Can we get pizza?" He made a move to look over her shoulder and almost got a broken nose for it. A perfect block, she thought. "I'm.. hungry. Geez, Max, I said I wouldn't **look**, I assumed that the same goes for **touch**. Easy..."

"Pizza?" The female X5 frowned, wondering where that came from as she weighed up the pros and cons. Alec would be around for longer. She was starving, though. Really, really starving. That was a definite defeat. "Okay."

Alec grinned. "Thanks, Max."

She simply grunted a response as she lathered up her hair, taking a good degree of care as not to touch him at all. Having such long hair, though, it was difficult, and many times she elbowed him by accident. It was just too hard to judge. Alec never complained, which wasn't par for the course at all. He remained pretty quiet, just reveling in the water and that innate love for being clean. It took neither of the transgenics long to figure out how the water's temperature was dropping, and they wasted no time in hopping out from underneath the spray, careful of where they stepped on the slippery floor. Almost simultaneously, they wrapped themselves in towels, and Max took the lead, wandering out to the living room. "What kind of pizza?"

Alec chuckled, towel slung low on his hips, a band of black fabric and white elastic peeking over the top. He ran a hand through his wet hair, green eyes on the floor.. "Whatever you want; I'm starving."

"Everything it is." Max replied, dialing the number of the last pizza place in Seattle already. She placed their order., hair wet at her back and causing a little shiver down her spine, well before it dried with a curl. Without even looking at him, Max left the room, removing her towel and robing up. The fluffy fabric was a lot warmer, even if it was over wet, cold underwear. She wasn't sure she could handle Alec coming in unannounced if she decided to change those. When she came out of her room again, Alec was just where she'd left him, eyes dancing up to her and alighting with a smile. She deflected it, allowing an **almost** playful frown, and giving up the soldier act to flop on the sofa.

Alec raised a brow, not believing she'd do that. She never seemed so 'normal'. Not when he was around, anyway.

"What? It's my apartment, you're the gatecrasher. I have every right to be comfortable."

"Fine.. yeah, that's a good point." Max felt a pause in his words, but still took that time to smile to herself for 'winning', regardless of what he might say next. "Maybe I should move in."

Max sat bolt upright, an almost indescribable expression on her face. "What?"

Alec laughed, apparently sure she'd do that. "Ah, Maxie.. you're so fun."

"Alec...wha.. where did that even come from?"

"'_I have every right to be comfortable_', she says, wearing a robe and laying on a sofa. What about me?"

"Like I said.. you're gatecrashing. I didn't even invite you in in the first place."

"Ouch, Max."

She raised a brow, eyes still narrowed and nose still screwed up.

"I was kidding. You're so dramatic... I just thought you'd like your **best bud** Alec to be comfortable instead of freezin' his ass off in a towel because he has no clean clothes, after showering in **your** shower, before we eat pizza. See what I'm getting' at?"

Max was about to lay back down again when she had a better idea. With purpose, she got off the sofa, saying absolutely nothing at all in response as she stomped her way to her closet. She pulled out the largest shirt she could find, an almost amusing shade of dark purple. She grinned, finding baggy pajama pants and bundling the garments up. This missile she threw at Alec's chest. "Clean clothes. Enjoy."

Alec caught them, scoffed. "You're kidding, right? You're not kidding? Maxie?"

The amusement could not be kept from her face as he pulled on the tshirt, ripples and bulges sticking out all over the place. "If that rips, you're getting me a new one." The tartan pants were even worse.

"You're a horrible person, Max." He said, watching her. She didn't get a chance to answer, the door shuddering with a knock.

"I'm going to the ladies'. Get the pizza, hey, roomie?"

Alec glared. In conclusion: Showering with Max was **always** a bad idea.


End file.
